


Cuddles for Linda

by ReleasingmyInsanity



Series: Polyamory AU [7]
Category: Sesame Street (TV)
Genre: Bechdel Test Pass, Bisexual Character of Color, Bisexual Female Deaf Character, Canon Character of Color, Couch Cuddles, Cuddling & Snuggling, Deaf Character, Dogs, Established Relationship, Fluff, Food mention, Interracial Relationship, Multi, Polyamory, Sign Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 16:32:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14429664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReleasingmyInsanity/pseuds/ReleasingmyInsanity
Summary: Linda has a bad day but spending time with her partners makes it better.





	Cuddles for Linda

**Author's Note:**

> As always italics indicate an English equivalent of what they're saying in ASL

Linda was having a bad day. She hadn't slept well the night before, and Barkley had woken her early in the morning to take him out. She loved being a librarian, but her shift had seemed endless. And some well-meaning but misguided person had told her that they were sorry she was Deaf. All she really felt like doing was sitting on the couch in her apartment with a blanket and a cup of tea. Watching something pointless on television. Since she had gotten her closed-caption decoder, it was much easier to watch TV and she found it rather relaxing.

Setting the cup down on the coffee table, Linda turned on the TV and settled down on the couch. It was only a couple of minutes before the light beside the door flashed, indicating that someone had rung the doorbell. Barkley jumped up and ran to the door. Before Linda could get up, the door opened and Maria poked her head in.

“ _Hi,”_ she signed.

Linda returned the greeting.

 _“Bad day?”_ Maria asked with a sympathetic look.

“ _Yeah.”_

 _“Do you want to cuddle?”_ Maria asked.

Linda nodded, offering part of the blanket to her girlfriend, as Maria sat down next to her and pulled her into a hug. Linda leaned into the hug and rested her head on Maria's shoulder, closing her eyes. She really appreciated Maria.

Several moments later Barkley ran to the door again. Someone must have knocked. She felt Maria speak, but didn't look up to see what she was saying. A moment later, the door opened again, and Bob entered the room, patting Barkley's head on the way in.

 _“Hi_ ,” he signed with a smile.

“ _Hi_ ,” Linda signed back.

“ _Can I join you?_ ” Bob asked, gesturing at the couch.

Without a word, Linda lifted her blanket on the side away from Maria so that Bob could join them.

As Bob sat down, his shoulder brushing against hers, Linda felt less grumpy than she had a few minutes earlier. Just having two of her partners next to her improved her mood greatly.

Maria stopped hugging Linda, took her hand, and kissed her hair. Bob rubbed Linda’s back, and she relaxed into their touch, loving how gentle they both were.

The door opened a third time and Olivia, Luis, and David entered. Linda suspected that the five of them had planned this. Her bad day must have been more obvious than she thought.

“ _We heard you were having a bad day_ ,” Luis signed.

Olivia nodded. “ _So, we thought we’d come cheer you up_.”

“ _And we brought snacks_ ,” David added, holding up the bag he was carrying.

Linda smiled, her partners knew her so well. “ _Come on in. There’s room for everyone._ ”

Maria and Bob shifted closer to Linda, making room for the other three to join them. They were close enough now that Linda could lean against Bob’s arm on the back of the couch and still rest her head on Maria’s shoulder.

Olivia took the space next to Bob, while Luis and David sat beside Maria. Barkley padded over next to David. David reached over to pet him, and Barkley set his paws on the arm of the couch, his oversized paws taking up all the available space. Linda laughed, Barkley didn’t have much concept of size. She sometimes wondered if he thought he was a lap dog.

Luis patted Linda’s shoulder companionably before settling one arm around Maria and the other around David. Olivia reached past Bob to run her fingers through Linda’s hair. Linda sighed contentedly.

Although it was a bit crowded on the couch with all six of them, they fit perfectly. Linda and her partners were so used to each other that they automatically made room for each other as they cuddled. Having so many partners wasn’t always easy, but times like this made it worth it. She had the best partners in the world.

“ _I love you all so much,_ ” Linda signed, snuggling closer to Maria. There was a flurry of movement in reply. Linda didn’t have to look to know that they were all signing _“We love you too._ ”

**Author's Note:**

> Sesame Street has been brought to you today by the letters C and S and by the number 7.
> 
> Since Linda doesn’t consider being Deaf to be a disability, someone feeling sorry for her really annoyed her.
> 
> Linda actually didn't get her TV caption device until season 21, after David and Olivia had both left Sesame Street. But this is either an AU where they stayed, or an AU where she got the caption thing sooner. Or both. Actually it's definitely both.
> 
> She has doorbell lights in every room, that one just happens to be next to the door.
> 
> Boy a lot of this fic sort of turned into “look at all the things I know about accessiblity.” But I think it was all necessary to the story. 
> 
> I have two big dogs (though not as big as Barkley) so I based Barkley's behavior off of them.
> 
> Okay, so they did all just let themselves into Linda’s apartment, but I figure this is something they’ve discussed already. They've been together for at least a few years by this point and have figured things out.
> 
> The reason that David is petting Barkley more than he’s cuddling with Linda is that he can’t really reach her, Luis and Maria are both sitting between them, but when you have five partners it’s really hard to cuddle them all at the same time.
> 
> I love Linda and so do her partners.


End file.
